Author: Badalian Vardan

L’ARMENIE ET GAZPROM NEGOCIENT SUR LE FUTUR PRIX DU GAZ
Laetitia

armenews.com
vendredi 5 octobre 2012

Le gouvernement armenien et la societe russe Gazprom continuent
a negocier le prix du gaz naturel russe qui est livre en Armenie,
a declare mercredi 3 octobre le Premier ministre Tigran Sarkissian.

Le gouvernement a annonce au printemps dernier que Gazprom envisage
une forte hausse de son prix du gaz exporte en Armenie. Il a ete
fixe a 180 dollars par millier de mètres cubes en avril 2010 et,
selon les autorites armeniennes, n’a pas change de prix depuis.

Le service des douanes armenien a declare que l’Armenie a importe près
de 2 milliards de mètres cubes de gaz russe, d’une valeur d’environ
240 millions de dollars au premier semestre de cette annee.

Le president Serge Sarkissian a discute de la question avec son
homologue russe Vladimir Poutine lors de leur rencontre a Moscou le
8 août. Sarkissian a declare après la reunion qu’ils ont atteint un
accord sur le nouveau prix. Mais il n’a pas fait plus de commentaires.

Le gaz naturel est utilise pour generer environ un tiers de
l’electricite de l’Armenie et est la principale source de chauffage
en hiver. Une hausse du prix du gaz pourrait avoir un impact majeur
sur le coût de la vie dans le pays.

ARMENIA SAYS LAUNCHING AIRPORT IN REBEL REGION

AzerNews Weekly
Oct 3 2012
Azerbaijan

Armenia has said it was launching the airport in Khankandi —
the center of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh republic run by
ethnic Armenians in occupied Azerbaijani territories, NEWS.am website
reported on Monday. Previously, reports circulated that it is planned
to start carrying out flights between the Armenian capital Yerevan
and Khankandi soon.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in a recent statement pledged to
be the first passenger on a flight to Khankandi. Azerbaijani Deputy
Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said recently commissioning of the
airport in Khankandi would be an open violation of the Convention
on International Civil Aviation — which was signed in Chicago on
December 7, 1944. Therefore, Baku will “intensify work in the legal
realm” to enforce the convention, Azimov told Trend news agency.

Azerbaijan has banned use of the airspace of the Armenia-occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh region, as no one can guarantee flight safety there,
head of the Azerbaijani Civil Aviation Administration, Arif Mammadov
said earlier.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT REJECTS BILL ON RECOGNIZING SO-CALLED NAGORNO-KARABAKH REPUBLIC

Trend
Oct 4 2012
Azerbaijan

The Armenian government rejected a bill on the recognition of the
so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on October 4, PanARMENIAN.Net
reported today.

Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said that this
bill is not appropriate. It must not be discussed now.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France and the U.S. –
are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

ARGO TEA OPENS FIRST OVERSEAS SHOP

World Tea News
Oct 4 2012

By World Tea News
BEIRUT, Lebanon

Argo Tea founder Arsen Avakian last week opened the company’s first
branded overseas location.

Avakian, 37, traveled to the grand opening last week and spoke to
the Daily Star (Lebanon) about his first overseas expansion.

“Beirut is the window to the Middle East,” said Avakian who grew up in
Yerevan, the capital and largest city in Armenia. A Fulbright Scholar,
he and boyhood friend Simon Simonian, a computer scientist, emigrated
to the United States in the 1990s where they teamed with French
management consultant Daniel Lindwasser to launch the chain in 2003.

Argo Tea is privately held with estimated earnings of $20 million,
according to an article in Time Magazine. The company operates 30
locations, mainly in Chicago where it is headquartered, but with five
locations in New York City and one each in Boston and St. Louis.

The company’s bottled teas, which sell for $2.40 for a 13.5 oz. can
be found in more than 3,000 grocery locations including Whole Foods
Markets, Safeway and Dominick’s.

Investors including billionaire Sam Zell and Oxford Capital have
fueled the company’s expansion which accelerated during the recession.

The company now employs more than 400 workers, most part-time.

Avakian said the chain intends to add several Middle East locations
and expressed ambitions to expand to Asia and Europe.

The first floor location in Le Mall, Dabbayeh, offers 40 tea blends,
pastries, snacks and sandwiches including a chai cherry chicken
sandwich cooked in the spiced tea.

“We want to do for tea what Starbucks did for coffee,” Avakian told the
newspaper reporter, recounting the two years he worked as a barista
at his first cafe, sourcing teas and mixing them with a variety of
international ingredients to create healthy, refreshing and often
unexpected drinks.

Argo has located several of its stores near Starbucks coffee shops
including the Willis Tower in Chicago, O’Hare Airport and the Flatiron
Building in New York City.

The menu in Beirut closely adheres to the U.S. offerings with Mate
Late a signature Brazilian mate, with almond and milk; the Hibiscus
Tea Sangria, a mixture of iced tea and fresh fruits; the White Tea
Acai Squeeze, white tea and lemonade; and the Green Tea Ginger Twist.

Tea is the fastest growing beverage segment in the U.S. over the past
10 years and Argo is a considered a tea retail pioneer. In addition
to loose leaf tea and concentrates, the shops sell a range of Fair
Trade and certified organic coffee.

Argo is one of several Western foodservice vendors in Beirut.

Succeeding in the Middle East will be easier, he says, because a
culture of tea drinking already exists.

FOREIGN MINISTRY BUILDING SOLD TO “TANGO” COMPANY

Mediamax
Oct 4 2012
Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Today, the government of Armenia made a decision
to sell the second building of the government (14241,9 square meters),
facilities and the state share of lands allotted for their maintenance
and use, to “Tango” CJSC.

The buyer of the building of the Foreign Ministry and adjacent areas
will pay over $51,2mln.

The Georgian Example
Editorial

October 3, 2012 14:02

In the former Soviet and many other countries around the world, the
highest government circles and business circles `under them’ are
convinced that if they lose power, it will have disastrous effects.
That conviction of theirs is partially true; it can be a disaster for
THEM. Oppositionists’ constant threats of the `fair judgment,’ latent
hate of the masses – which, nonetheless, doesn’t prevent the same
masses from taking election bribes – as well as persecution of
representatives of the `former criminal regime’ after changes of power
make the powers that be think that after losing power, things are
going to be in a bad way for them. It is also interesting that they
present this absolutely understandable fear as a concern about the
future of the country. And the `official’ explanation of election
fraud is the following, `Can we allow these guys to come to power –
they will destroy the country.’

Perhaps this stereotype derives from feudal traditions, the conviction
that the `king’ is the Lord’s Anointed. In the West, this stereotype
disappeared roughly two centuries ago. In Asia, Russia and post-Soviet
countries, this delusion of the powers that be and partially the
peoples is still maintained. And which are the post-Soviet leaders who
try to overcome that stagnant situation? Viktor Yushchenko and Mikheil
Saakashvili, politicians who are commonly called `pro-Western.’ The
first one, losing the presidential election, peacefully handed over
power to Yanukovych. The second one didn’t make illegal efforts last
week to maintain a parliamentary majority. Certainly, those
politicians are far from the ideal and their countries’ position is
not particularly enviable. However, I don’t think it is random that
they are the very people who showed certain state wisdom in these
issues contributing to the maturity of their societies by that. And a
mature society is when citizens believe at least a little bit that
something depends on their attitude, their activity and most
importantly their votes. Such citizens do not emigrate, even if they
are in very poor financial conditions. The probability that they will
start robbing their own country is also less.

Everyone seems to agree that the task of our and many other countries
is to have citizens and voters instead of inert, passive and grumbling
masses. And one needs at least two preconditions for that: the first
one is to get rid of the government’s fear of being toppled; the
second one is to overcome the `king-slave’ mentality. I am sure that
to achieve these two goals, the societies should move toward the
Western, European values.

ARAM ABRAHAMYAN

Zhoghovurd: Arayik of Lavanda puts up his property for auction

11:54 06/10/2012 » Daily press

Arayik Hayrapetyan (Arayik of Lavanda) has put up his property for
auction. He is selling his restaurant with cottages in Tsakhkadzor.

He confirmed this information to Zhoghovurd saying, `I am selling it
to build another thing instead of it. This is my everyday job – to
build and then to sell.’

`Could there be another reason?’ Zhoghovurd asked him.

`No, now that I have left politics I am in this business,’ he noted.

Source: Panorama.am

Trend, Azerbaijan
Oct 5 2012

Azerbaijani Parliament speaker: Int’l organizations sometimes make
decisions based on biased information

Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 5 / Trend M. Aliyev /

The international organizations are sometimes in a hurry and make
decisions based on wrong information, Speaker of the Azerbaijani
Parliament Ogtay Asadov said at a meeting with European Parliament
member Rachida Dati.

“Azerbaijan is facing these cases,” he said. “The decisions taken
under the influence of our enemies, disturb the Azerbaijani society
and hamper the rapid settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”

He said that Azerbaijan supports a just settlement of the conflict on
the basis of the international law.

“Azerbaijan is an important country in the South Caucasus for the
European Parliament and France,” she said. “Special attention is paid
to the socio-political processes in the region.”

“We will continue expanding our relations with the region of the
Caucasus,” she said. “I am confident that the development of relations
will be beneficial for both sides.”

Ride On!: More new buses on way to relieve Yerevan congestion

Society | 05.10.12 | 15:18

New buses will soon appear in the Armenian capital, as the Yerevan
Municipality will to bring another 160 buses manufactured by South
Korean Hyundai.

Public transport and congested traffic continues to be a problem in
Yerevan, despite the municipality’s promises (and some efforts) to
unload the traffic by increase the number of buses and reduce the
number of mini-vans.

According to Genrikh Navasardyan, the head of a municipality
department in charge of public transportation, the new batch of buses
will help partially solve the problem of traffic jams in Yerevan. The
municipality has held competitions since May to choose companies that
will operate 62 minibus routes and 12 bus routes.

Currently some 2,000 minibuses and about 580 buses are running in
Yerevan. The municipality plans overall to cut the number of minibus
routes from 109 to 75:

Expert: Turkey won’t unleash war against Syria in near future

October 6, 2012 – 17:23 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkey won’t unleash a large-scale war against Syria
in the near future, Armenian political expert said.

According to Anush Hovhannisyan, Turkey won’t launch a war that
threatens it big losses, while the U.S. will hardly start military
operations in Syria by the end of the presidential race.

The expert further noted Syria’s Kurdish districts as Turkey’s target,
voicing skepticism that the shell explosion in the Turkish city of
Akcakale was masterminded by the Syrian army.

`The incident might have been provocation by Turkey,’ the political
analyst said, drawing a parallel with Sarajevo market shelling,
prompting NATO’s intervention in the Bosnian conflict.